Dan Rodricks' Baltimore

Coverage of Baltimore and the region for The Brew by Dan Rodricks. After writing an award-winning column for the Baltimore Sun for 46 years, Rodricks resigned in January 2025, a year after the Sun's purchase by David Smith, the conservative executive chairman of the Sinclair Broadcast Group.

A nice alphabetically organized Baltimore neighborhood oddly saddled with a not-so-nice name

Residents love living in “The A to K,” but why is the neighborhood also sometimes called “Joseph Lee?” Who was this guy? When I tracked down the answer, it became clear why they rebranded it as Bayview.

After listening to Willie Nelson albums for half a century, a Baltimore music critic grades them

Geoffrey Himes hopes his new book, out next week, will be the definitive account of the celebrated musician, who recently performed with Bob Dylan and Sheryl Crow at the Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Baltimore Presbyterians offer reparations for the slavery Trump wants to erase

Funding to go to six local historically Black Presbyterian churches “in recognition of their historic underfunding and exclusion.”

Baltimore Peninsula: Surprisingly built-out, though on a visit devoid of people

Kudos to the developers for erecting beaucoup square feet. But the place still feels like a neighborhood waiting to happen.

Baltimore-based movie theater impresario learned the value of taking a seat, then making the most of it

How a mild-mannered kid from Highlandtown went from usher at the old Patterson Theater to East Coast movie theater mogul.

Citizen Baker: The man behind Motzi Bread stays focused on the yeast among us

Doing what he set out to do – put down roots in an urban setting, make nutritious bread in a neighborhood bakery and source all ingredients from regional farmers.

He did it Ray’s way

Blessed with empathy and a healthy sense of humor, Ray Bennett helped WBAL-TV tell a fuller story about Baltimore and its people. An appreciation of the former features reporter, who died on July 5.

In Station North, new life for an old funeral parlor

Welcome to “The Parlor,” where the embalming room is now a public restroom, the casket showroom is an opera singer’s studio and the chapel is soon to be the new home of No Land Beyond

After 35 seasons, Everyman Theatre founder Vincent Lancisi takes a bow

His retirement at the end of the 2025-2026 season will conclude a storied run that began with a play in a Charles Village church that was so cold Lancisi provided blankets for the audience.

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On Baltimore’s Eastside, rehabbing – not razing – a blighted block

ReBUILD Metro kicks off its latest redevelopment project: Overhauling dilapidated rowhouses on Mura Street in Johnston Square.

West Baltimore activist who battles blight and violence suffers savage pit bull attack

What happened in the community garden recently to Carrollton Ridge’s Cyndi Tensley, the upbeat leader of trash clean-ups, vigils for homicide victims and more.

In Baltimore’s Reservoir Hill “somebody gave a damn and cared enough to stay”

Established 60 years ago by a feisty Jesuit priest, the St. Francis Neighborhood Center still serves the community – and this month they’re expanding.

Ukrainians who fled war worry about winds of change from Washington

A Harford County woman took this mother and daughter in, but they wonder if the U.S. government under Donald Trump might push them out.

Resourceful Manna House chef conjures miracle meals for Baltimore’s neediest

Whether he’s got surplus split pea from Panera or weirder donations, like bison or black ramen noodles, chef Raheem Ajayi rises to the challenge at this venerable soup kitchen and so much more.

Rented scooter and bike use spreading beyond Baltimore’s “White L”

Advocates say the trend shows the success of the city’s efforts to promote dockless devices not just as recreational rides, but as a practical means of commuting to work or running errands.

Fast growing Baltimore group organizing against Trump 2.0

People want a focused effort against the actions of the new administration in Washington, say organizers of Indivisible Baltimore: “They want to have Democrats really put their foot down and be an opposition party.”

In a moving tribute, a 10-year-old girl is “danced into heaven” by her friends

E’vaa Sewell accidentally shot herself with a gun in her grandmother’s northwest Baltimore house, leaving family and friends bereft.